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[Canadian Politics] Justin Time for the Holidays, 2018 Edition

Hello out there, we're on the air, it's 'Hockey Night' tonight.
Tension grows, the whistle blows, and the puck goes down the ice
The goalie jumps, and the players bump, and the fans all go insane
Someone roars, "Bobby Scores!", at the good ol' hockey jame

OH! The ol' hockey game is the best game you can name
And the best game you can name is the good ol' hockey game

Justin Trudeau, the man you know, he's PM of this state
Some love him and some hate him but you know his hair is great
His hands are full with lots of bull from some guy right down south
And when he speaks a ton of "uh"s are issued from his mouth

Now Andrew Scheer has come up here to lead the CPC
Say what you will, for good or ill, at least they're not PP
He likes to talk, but can he walk? That remains to be seen
We'll all find out and scream and shout in ol' twenty-nineteen

And Jagmeet Singh is here to bring the Dippers to the show
He doesn't pose for hockey but he'll sometimes stand in snow
Although he's an Ontarian, he's come to Burnaby
To bring the heat and win a seat for the good ol' NDP

Our friend Liz May's still here today, her party's at just one
But you can't say the Greens don't know some good ways to have fun
She went to jail, but still she failed to stop the pipeline, see,
And now trade war is raging 'tween Alberta and BC

And I could talk about the Bloc or Maxime Bernier
But Tom's already spinnin' in his stompin' grave today
So let's all talk 'bout politics, try not to pass the blame
Just think of Question Period like the good ol' hockey game

OOOOOOH The ol' hockey game is the best game you can name
And the best game you can name is the good ol' hockey game

We get about 8 or so hours of light this time of year, but be of a mindset where getting to see the aurora borealis is a nice bonus, and not the reason for the trip. It has been overcast constantly, the past few days, which is not unusual, and even if its clear, the aurora doesn't happen all the time.

But if you do get to see it when you're up here, it's pretty great.

Well, we got lucky -- Saturday night was clouded over, and Friday had a little bit of cloud at sunset:

but cleared up very nicely later on:

And the rest of Yellowknife was also awesome -- we walked around Frame Lake, and yeah, it was definitely snowy:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will not be moving forward with a proposed policy on gender identity introduced at a weekend convention of his Progressive Conservative party.

I anticipate him, rather than trying to introduce it to the legislature, just trying to unilaterally declare it and then claiming the notwithstanding clause when the courts say he can't. But for now, good news.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will not be moving forward with a proposed policy on gender identity introduced at a weekend convention of his Progressive Conservative party.

I anticipate him, rather than trying to introduce it to the legislature, just trying to unilaterally declare it and then claiming the notwithstanding clause when the courts say he can't. But for now, good news.

Seriously, don't these feebs have anything better to do than wring their hands over someones gender identity? Aside from the fact that none of it is anyones goddamn business, it literally cannot hurt anyone. We are literally facing an existential threat when it comes to global warming, and these monsters want to debate over whether or not trans people are a thing. Tanya Granic Allen should put her head in a blender to spare the rest of us from her bullshit. The only good thing she's gone is let the rest of us know that "parental rights advocate" is code for hateful homophobe.

In good news along the same subject, it is my understanding that gender reassignment surgery will soon be available in BC. Now there is another option aside from Montreal. This makes me very happy.

Reposting from the se++ bad food thread, since I know some posters here are in Quebec and Ontario, where this seems focused so far: (though I wouldn't buy any for a while anywhere in North America, personally) There's an e.coli outbreak that they think is in romaine lettuce. So don't buy any, toss it if you have some and wash your fridge well.https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-11-18/index.html

Is anyone listening to the Thunder Bay podcast produced by Canadaland? Holy shit are parts of it crazy. I didn't know much about Thunder Bay prior to listening, and I know that there are many communities like this in Canada but wooooow.

Is anyone listening to the Thunder Bay podcast produced by Canadaland? Holy shit are parts of it crazy. I didn't know much about Thunder Bay prior to listening, and I know that there are many communities like this in Canada but wooooow.

Chapter 1: There Is A Town In North Ontario
Locals call it Murder Bay. It might be the most dangerous city for Indigenous youth in the world. But to others, it's their white nirvana. Host Ryan McMahon wants to know - not who killed all those kids, but what killed them. This is Thunder Bay.

Chapter 3 – Deathly Low Priority
Nine teenagers died. There is evidence of foul play. There are suspects. There are motives. There have even been confessions. But nobody has ever been charged. In a town with no consequences, it will happen again.

Chapter 4 – The Ruthless Game
Agnew Johnston was a lawyer who represented the state against criminals. But he was a criminal himself, paying underage girls for sex. His defence? Everybody in Thunder Bay is doing it, so why are you picking on me? The story of a case that implicated Thunder Bay's elite.

Does anyone have an article(s) with the actual details of the canada post negotiations, specifically detailing what was asked for, offered or rejected from either side?
I tried searching but the only articles I could find about it mostly focused on telling people what services they should use instead of canada post, or are either using incredibly vague terms to deify/demonize either canada post, the government, the union, or any combination of which while all still seeming to contradict themselves.

Chapter 1: There Is A Town In North Ontario
Locals call it Murder Bay. It might be the most dangerous city for Indigenous youth in the world. But to others, it's their white nirvana. Host Ryan McMahon wants to know - not who killed all those kids, but what killed them. This is Thunder Bay.

Chapter 3 – Deathly Low Priority
Nine teenagers died. There is evidence of foul play. There are suspects. There are motives. There have even been confessions. But nobody has ever been charged. In a town with no consequences, it will happen again.

Chapter 4 – The Ruthless Game
Agnew Johnston was a lawyer who represented the state against criminals. But he was a criminal himself, paying underage girls for sex. His defence? Everybody in Thunder Bay is doing it, so why are you picking on me? The story of a case that implicated Thunder Bay's elite.

I'll add some of my own substance to this. Two things stood out to me:
1) The comments from some locals are so matter-of-factly or just accepting of the way things are.
2) How corrupt the levers of power seem to be (ie a judge presiding over a trial where he was potentially going to be named in regards to the sex trade).

To offset the move, the Tories have exempted those earning under $30,000 from provincial income tax and given a tax cut to those earning up to $38,000. But critics maintain the plan will save workers less money than they would gain through a wage hike.

I feel like this part is notable as a means to further disregard anything people in that range might have to say, on the grounds of “they’re not even actual Taxpayers”.

I'm pretty pissed off about the sick leave changes. I'm currently at a company that has a good sick leave policy of 6 paid days per year and it's been great but my project is changing companies on January 1st. With the new company the sick leave is in accordance with the Ontario Employment Standard Act which was 2 paid days and 8 unpaid days. Now even those 2 paid days are gone so anytime I'm sick, it's going to cost me a couple hundred dollars which basically discourages me from staying home and could lead to me infection the office. I only tend to get sick a few times per year but I have kids (also known as plague bearers) and so I'm basically a carrier too.

I'm pretty pissed off about the sick leave changes. I'm currently at a company that has a good sick leave policy of 6 paid days per year and it's been great but my project is changing companies on January 1st. With the new company the sick leave is in accordance with the Ontario Employment Standard Act which was 2 paid days and 8 unpaid days. Now even those 2 paid days are gone so anytime I'm sick, it's going to cost me a couple hundred dollars which basically discourages me from staying home and could lead to me infection the office. I only tend to get sick a few times per year but I have kids (also known as plague bearers) and so I'm basically a carrier too.

I worked for a company like that many years ago.

I went in and purposely scheduled meetings and project reviews with as many executives and managers as I could.

I feel so lucky in comparison. The place I work at used to give you 3 paid flexible days off a year that you could use for sick days, otherwise it was unpaid. A few years ago they made a huge change. We still have our 3 flexible days off but we get "unlimited" paid days off for sickness/family emergencies. Unlimited in quotes because while there's no official maximum number if you end up reaching around 10 sick days in a year you will most likely end up having a chat with HR. But it's still much better than what many workplaces offer.

I feel so lucky in comparison. The place I work at used to give you 3 paid flexible days off a year that you could use for sick days, otherwise it was unpaid. A few years ago they made a huge change. We still have our 3 flexible days off but we get "unlimited" paid days off for sickness/family emergencies. Unlimited in quotes because while there's no official maximum number if you end up reaching around 10 sick days in a year you will most likely end up having a chat with HR. But it's still much better than what many workplaces offer.

I think I have 8 paid sick days per year, which is about twice as many as I've ever used.

I'm in a union though, and work for a p understanding manager.

+1

fRAWRstThey Said I Needed My Head ExaminedBut I'd Rather Just Take YoursRegistered Userregular

I feel so lucky in comparison. The place I work at used to give you 3 paid flexible days off a year that you could use for sick days, otherwise it was unpaid. A few years ago they made a huge change. We still have our 3 flexible days off but we get "unlimited" paid days off for sickness/family emergencies. Unlimited in quotes because while there's no official maximum number if you end up reaching around 10 sick days in a year you will most likely end up having a chat with HR. But it's still much better than what many workplaces offer.

We don't really have a firm policy but after about 6-7 sick days they start docking your vacation. As long as your work get's done no one really bats an eye.